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PRESCRIBED SUBSTANTIAL LITERARY TEXTS
MODULE ONE GENRE STUDIES
FOCUS: Dystopian Fiction
TYPE OF TEXT: [2013 novel]
TITLE:The Circle,
AUTHOR: DavidEggers,
COURSE:English
MERIT AND CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
DavidEggers is a bestselling and ward winning author. His memoir A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction.Eggers' current interests remain in philanthropy and humanitarian work, with a focus on youth education.
The novelThe Circlehas received mixed reviews. Some reviewers applaud the relevance of a discomforting fable about the proliferation and infiltration of technology into society and personal life.
PLOT
‘When Mae Holland is hired to work for the Circle, the world’s most powerful internet company, she feels she’s been given the opportunity of a lifetime. The Circle, run out of a sprawling California campus, links users’ personal emails, social media, banking, and purchasing with their universal operating system, resulting in one online identity and a new age of civility and transparency.
As Mae tours the open-plan office spaces, the towering glass dining facilities, the cozy dorms for those who spend nights at work, she is thrilled with the company’s modernity and activity. There are parties that last through the night, famous musicians playing on the lawn, athletic activities and clubs and brunches, and even an aquarium of rare fish retrieved from the Marianas Trench by the CEO.
Mae can’t believe her luck, her great fortune to work for the most influential company in the world—even as life beyond the campus grows distant, even as a strange encounter with a colleague leaves her shaken, even as her role at the Circle becomes increasingly public.
What begins as the captivating story of one woman’s ambition and idealism soon becomes a heart-racing novel of suspense, raising questions about memory, history, privacy, democracy, and the limits of human knowledge.’ Thorndike Press
THEMES
The dangers of modernity, family,religion, sex, lust and love, identity, human rights and the importance of names
ONLINE RESOURCES
PRESCRIBED SUBSTANTIAL LITERARY TEXTS
MODULE ONE GENRE STUDIES
FOCUS: Dystopian Fiction
TYPE OF TEXT: [1992 novel]
TITLE:The Children of Men
AUTHOR: P.D. James,
COURSE:English
MERIT AND CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
P.D. James is an award winning author, dubbed the queen of crime and as such best known for her detective fiction, but The Children of Mendemonstrates that her talent isn’t restricted to one genre. James won the 1992 Deo Gloria Award for The Children of Menwhichis considered by critics to be dystopian science fiction of the highest calibre and has been described as beautifully written, engaging, and profound. James was decorated with the Order of the British Empire in 1983 and was named a peer of the House of Lords in 1991; her honorary title is Baroness James. She holds a range of honorary doctorates and fellowships.
PLOT
‘The year is 2021, and the human race is coming to an end. Literally. And we’re going out, not with a bang, but with a whimper.No children have been born since 1995 due to mass infertility among males: an infertility which all the powers of science can neither understand nor reverse. The last generation to be born is now adult, and the population is growing steadily, inexorably older. England is supervised by a dictatorial Warden and the SSP (State Security Police). Brutal prison camps, forced labour, and roving thugs bear witness to the deterioration of society, as does “the Quietus” – an organized slaughter of the elderly, staged to look like mass suicide.
Theodore Faron – Oxford historian and also cousin to the all-powerful Warden – watches in despair as the world around him crumbles in the face of a future that is no future. But in the midst of his drab day to day routine, he’s approached by Julian, a bright young woman who asks for his help in getting an audience with the Warden. Julian and her band of revolutionaries may just revive Theo’s will to live – and they may also hold the key to salvation for all mankind.’ The Ink Slinger
THEMES
Power, hope, religion, the arrogance of youth,death and decay,familial and romantic love,the role of religion/people’s response to religion in hopeless situationsthe human spirit, nature’s indifference,the roles of women/gender roles,motherhood and maternity
ONLINE RESOURCES
PRESCRIBED SUBSTANTIAL LITERARY TEXTS
MODULE ONE GENRE STUDIES
FOCUS: Dystopian Fiction
TYPE OF TEXT: [1971 novel]
TITLE:The Lathe of Heaven
AUTHOR: Ursula Le Guin
COURSE:English
MERIT AND CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
Ursula K. Le Guin is a multi-award winning novelistshe has published twenty-one novels, eleven volumes of short stories, four collections of essays, twelve books for children, six volumes of poetry and four of translation, and has received many honours and awards including Hugo, Nebula, National Book Award, PEN-Malamud, and the National Book Foundation Medal.
Ursula K. Le Guin’sThe Lathe of Heaven, a 1971 book that was nominated for both the Hugo and Nebula awards and was awarded theLocus Award for Best Novel.Critics identify that The Lathe of Heavenstands out as an extreme novelistic treatment of dreaming as a world-altering activity. Le Guin addresses the dangers of power and humanity’s self-destructiveness, questioning the nature of reality itself.
PLOT
‘The novel is set in a future world where one man’s dreams control the fate of humanity.In a future world racked by violence and environmental catastrophes, George Orr wakes up one day to discover that his dreams have the ability to alter reality. He seeks help from Dr. William Haber, a psychiatrist who immediately grasps the power George wields. Soon George must preserve reality itself as Dr. Haber becomes adept at manipulating George’s dreams for his own purposes.’Simon and Schuster
THEMES
Versions of reality, philosophical viewpoints: Taoism, Utilitarianism, technology and modernization, warfare, race, love and power
ONLINE RESOURCES
PRESCRIBED SUBSTANTIAL LITERARY TEXTS
MODULE ONE GENRE STUDIES
FOCUS: Dystopian Fiction
TYPE OF TEXT: [2006 film]
TITLE:V for Vendetta
AUTHOR: James McTeigue
COURSE:English
MERIT AND CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
V for Vendettais a film adaptation of Alan Moore’s Graphic Novel which is considered to be a work of major cultural importance.The film has won multiple awards such as the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. The significance of the film is its relationship to the current cultural and political climate.And the manner in which the film unitesthe themes offreedom, liberty, individual choice and totalitarianism under one symbol: the Guy Fawkes mask a symbol for protest and the power of revolt. In this way V for Vendetta, has influenced both social and politicalprotest mechanisms, through the provision of a single symbol.
PLOT
‘It is the year 2020. A virus runs wild in the world, most Americans are dead, and Britain is ruled by a fascist dictator who promises security but not freedom. One man stands against him, the man named V, who moves through London like a wraith despite the desperate efforts of the police. He wears a mask showing the face of Guy Fawkes, who in 1605 tried to blow up the houses of Parliament. On Nov. 5, the eve of Guy Fawkes Day, British schoolchildren for centuries have started bonfires to burn Fawkes in effigy. On this eve in 2020, V saves a young TV reporter named Evey from rape at the hands of the police, forces her to join him, and makes a busy night of it by blowing up the Old Bailey courtrooms.’ Roger Edbert
THEMES
Vendettas, Revenge, totalitarianism, fatherhood, mentorship and the State, personal accountability, religion, identity, happiness, freedom and anarchy, bigotry, the power of symbols
ONLINE RESOURCES
PRESCRIBED SUBSTANTIAL LITERARY TEXTS
MODULE ONE GENRE STUDIES
FOCUS: Dystopian Fiction
TYPE OF TEXT: [2013 play]
TITLE:1984
AUTHOR: Duncan Macmillan,
COURSE:English
MERIT AND CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
UK Theatre Award, nominated for Best New Play at the Olivier Awards
PLOT
‘April, 1984. Winston Smith, thinks a thought, starts a diary, and falls in love. But Big Brother is watching him, and the door to Room 101 can swing open in the blink of an eye. Its ideas have become our ideas, and Orwell’s fiction is often said to be our reality.’ Duncan Macmillan
THEMES
Totalitarianism,Psychological Manipulation, Physical Control, Control of Information and History, Technology, Language as Mind Control
ONLINE RESOURCES
PRESCRIBED SUBSTANTIAL LITERARY TEXTS
MODULE ONE GENRE STUDIES
FOCUS: Dystopian Fiction
TYPE OF TEXT: [2014 graphic novel]
TITLE:Watchmen
AUTHOR: Allan Moore
COURSE:English
MERIT AND CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
Regarded as a significant work of the 20th century, Watchmen is the only graphic novel to make Time’s 100 Best Novels list, one of Entertainment Weekly’s Top 50 novels of the past 25 years. Watchmen’s sophisticated representation of superheroes has been universally acclaimed for its psychological depth and realism.
PLOT
‘Watchmen chronicles the fall from grace of a group of super-heroes plagued by all-too-human failings. The concept of the super-hero is dissected as the heroes are stalked by an unknown assassin.Watchmen is set in an alternate 1985 America in which costumed superheroes are part of the fabric of everyday society, and the “Doomsday Clock” – which charts the USA’s tension with the Soviet Union – is permanently set at five minutes to midnight. It begins with a murder-mystery before unfolding into a planet-altering conspiracy: When a retired hero is killed, his former teammates must investigate. The conspiracy they uncover will entwine their secret traumas and twisted psychologies, ultimately asking where the fine line is drawn between heroes and villains.‘DC Comics
THEMES
Time, lies and deceit, patriotism, identity, rules and order, freedom and confinement, transformation, technology and modernization
ONLINE RESOURCES
PRESCRIBED SUBSTANTIAL LITERARY TEXTS
MODULE ONE GENRE STUDIES
FOCUS: Dystopian Fiction
TYPE OF TEXT: [1997 film]
TITLE:Gattaca,
AUTHOR: Andrew Nicol
COURSE:English
MERIT AND CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
London critics circle film awards nominated for an Academy Award
PLOT
‘In a future time when people are born genetically engineered, Vincent is the product of natural reproduction and is genetically predicted to die at age 30. Vincent defies his fate and under false identity enters Gattaca, an astronaut training program for a manned mission to a moon of Saturn. Vincent borrows the genetic identity of a paralysed athlete named Jerome, in the form of blood samples, hair clippings, and skin scrapings. One of Gattaca’s supervisors is murdered and investigators are soon discover the presence of Vincent’s real DNA. He thus becomes a suspect and attempts to dodge efforts link his real DNA to his new identity.
“Gattaca” deals with two distinctphilosophical issues: The morality of creating genetically engineered humans, and the ability to act contrary to our biological predispositions. Both of these points are encapsulated in an advertising line for the movie: “There’s no gene for the human spirit.”Philosophical Films
THEMES
Utopia and Dystopia, discrimination, the human spirit, human flaws, science and religion, oppression,
ONLINE RESOURCES
- Study guide to Gattaca
PRESCRIBED SUBSTANTIAL LITERARY TEXTS
MODULE ONE GENRE STUDIES
FOCUS: Dystopian Fiction
TYPE OF TEXT: [2014film]
TITLE:The Giver,
AUTHOR: Phillip Noyce
COURSE:English
MERIT AND CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
The novel from which the film is adapted won numerous awards.The film was nominated for a range of awards and won the Heartland film 2014 Award.
PLOT
‘The Giver" takes place in a community at some point in the indeterminate future where "Sameness" is prized above all else. Multiple factors have gone into creating a monochromatic world (literally, colours have been erased) where individuality is crushed, a citizen's every move is monitored from the moment of birth, natural families have been replaced by artificial "family units" and choice has vanished.’ Sheila O'Malley
THEMES
The importance of memory, the relationship between pain and pleasure, the importance of the individual, honesty, freedom versus security, sameness versus diversity
ONLINE RESOURCES
PRESCRIBED SUBSTANTIAL LITERARY TEXTS
MODULE ONE GENRE STUDIES
FOCUS: Dystopian Fiction
TYPE OF TEXT: [1998 film]
TITLE:Dark City
AUTHOR: Alex Proyas,
COURSE:English
MERIT AND CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
Winner: Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA, Film Critics Circle of Australia
PLOT
Dark Cityimagines a city of the future, which exists in an alternate time line, and contains elements of the present and past, combined with visions from a futuristic comic book.
John Murdoch awakens alone in a strange hotel to find that he has lost his memory and is wanted for a series of brutal and bizarre murders. While trying to piece together his past, he stumbles upon a fiendish underworld controlled by a group of beings known as The Strangers who possess the ability to put people to sleep and alter the city and its inhabitants. Murdoch must find a way to stop them before they take control of his mind and destroy him. IMDb
THEMES
Identity, revolt, self-analysis, madness, horror, survival, conformity
ONLINE RESOURCES
PRESCRIBED SUBSTANTIAL LITERARY TEXTS
MODULE ONE GENRE STUDIES
FOCUS: Dystopian Fiction
TYPE OF TEXT: [2011 novel]
TITLE:Delirium,
AUTHOR: Lauren Oliver
COURSE:English
MERIT AND CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
Award Winning author,Nominee for Best Fiction for Young Adults discussion by the ALA BFYA, Nominee for YALSA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults 2012
PLOT
‘Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -- the deliria -- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the government demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy. But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.’ Lauren Oliver
THEMES
Love, fear, lies and deceit, madness, lust, dissatisfaction, passivity, appearances, betrayal
ONLINE RESOURCES
PRESCRIBED SUBSTANTIAL LITERARY TEXTS
MODULE ONE GENRE STUDIES
FOCUS: Thriller
TYPE OF TEXT: [2015 miniseries]
TITLE:The Night Manager
AUTHOR: Susanne
COURSE:English Bier
MERIT AND CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
Adaptation from the work of a multi award winning author:12Emmy Nominations
PLOT
‘A contemporary interpretation of John le Carré’s espionage drama – and the first television adaptation of a le Carré novel in more than 20 years – The Night Manager brings together love, loss and revenge in a complex story of modern criminality.
The series follows former British soldier Jonathan Pine who is recruited by intelligence operative Angela Burr to infiltrate the inner circle of international businessman Richard Onslow Roper and detonate the unholy alliance he has ministered between the intelligence community and the secret arms trade. To get to the heart of Roper’s vast empire, Pine must withstand the suspicious interrogations of his venal chief of staff Major Corkoran and the allure of his beautiful girlfriend Jed In his quest to do the right thing, he must first become a criminal himself.’ BBC Australia
THEMES
Love, loss, evil, revenge, corruption, power and justice
ONLINE RESOURCES
PRESCRIBED SUBSTANTIAL LITERARY TEXTS
MODULE ONE GENRE STUDIES
FOCUS: Thriller
TYPE OF TEXT: [2012 novel]
TITLE:Gone Girl
AUTHOR: Gillian Flynn
COURSE:English
MERIT AND CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
New York Times bestseller, Edgar Award Finalist, Best Novel, EW Entertainer of the Year, 2012International Author of the Year, 2013, Nominated for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, IMPAC Award and Shirley Jackson
PLOT
‘One of the most critically acclaimed suspense writers of our time … Gillian Flynn takes that statement to its darkest place in this masterpiece about a marriage gone terribly, terribly wrong. The ChicagoTribuneproclaimed that her work "draws you in and keeps you reading with the force of a pure but nasty addiction." Gone Girl's toxic mix of sharp-edged wit and deliciously chilling prose creates a nerve-fraying thriller that confounds you at every turn.